1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to fasteners, and deals more particularly with a hybrid fastener and method for making the fastener.
2. Background
Composite fasteners such as threaded bolts and screws have been developed for use in several applications because of their relatively light weight, compared with metal fasteners. Composite fasteners may be fabricated using any of several manufacturing techniques, and may include continuous, axial fiber reinforcements that strengthen the fastener in its axial direction to resist tension forces. Because the fiber reinforcement is designed to provide strength substantially only in the axial direction, the fastener is substantially anisotropic and therefore may not be suitable for some applications. Moreover, composite threads may not be capable of carrying the desired loads.
Accordingly, there is a need for a high strength, composite fastener that exhibits quasi-isotropic properties, and which includes threads, or similar features, capable of carrying high loads. There is also a need for an efficient method for fabricating such fasteners quickly and in high-volume.